Net

This article requires cleanup.
[Reason: Plagiarism from books]

The Net (also commonly referred to as Cyberspace) is the name given to the vast telecommunications network of the Cyberpunk universe. It is analogous to the real world internet (which was still in its infancy at the time Cyberpunk 2020 came out), but much more extensive, including things like appliances and even cybernetic limbs. The Net is made of up of hard lines, radio links, cell networks, microwave transmitters and anything else that can transmit information from one computer to another.

Access to the Net requires a modem of some kind. It is possible to use the Net the way we use the internet in real life; with a computer or terminal, keyboard, and video display (also called Vidboards). But the professionals experience the Net in 3 dimensions, using a complex cybernetic interface called a cybermodem. People who use cybermodems are called Netrunners. A cybermodem provides an experience that is much more immersive and intuitive than the traditional keyboard/computer interface. This allows Netrunners to react far faster than would ever be possible with a keyboard.

Using the Net in anything more than the most rudimentary ways requires a Cybermodem (sometimes called Cyberdecks) You do not necessarily need interface plugs installed in your head to use a cybermodem though. There are also options for electrodes or even 2D displays with a keyboard, but actual netrunners will always use plugs, because actual cybernetic connections wired to your brain ensure the very fastest reaction times. In the Net, speed matters. A lot.

To refer to the net from before the DataKrash of 2022, Old NET is often used, while the one after the Blackwall was added is usually called simply the Net, or the Shallow Net, which mostly consists of NET Architectures and Data Pools.

Database Entry (2077)

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CYBERSPACE

After the DataKrash, only fragments of the worldwide Net were able to be salvaged – an archipelago of algorithms and code separated by treacherous abysses of nothingness. Just because you know how to surf the Net, doesn't mean you're an experienced diver in the fluctuating streams of pure, fluid data beaming directly into your brain. In order to enter cyberspace, you need a SynthTech interface, external support (especially for the first time), a secure BBS and a lot of luck. Netrunners who can navigate the deep Net are mostly interested in accessing corporate data fortresses – others try to gain entry into older, defunct systems or even break through the Blackwall.

Icons

An icon is basically a 3D avatar a person can control to interact with other stuff (people, programs etc.) in the Net. Icons can be as simple as a flat 2D monochrome shape, to a complex photorealistic human form. Everything in the Net is represented with icons...Data Fortresses, other Netrunners, individual programs, whatever.

Everything in the Net is rendered in three dimensions. The interface program in the cybermodem will interpret the Net for the Netrunner. Most of the Net environment is similar to the movie Tron, but the quality of the rendering depends on available bandwidth and memory. It is possible to render a completely realistic environment, similar to the movie The Matrix. More complex icons require more memory. For this reason, the bulk of the Net uses lower quality icons (like Tron, or present day video games). Things like long distance links (LDLs) will also have icons associated with them.

Programs in the Net have their own icons, and can be customized like anything else. They interact with other icons in intuitive ways that allow almost anyone to become a hacker. For example, a worm program may show an icon like a stylized worm burrow into a data wall and form itself into a doorway allowing access inside the data fort. All people and programs in the Net interact in ways like this.

The 3D interface in the Net is common to all cybermodems. So what you see, is what everyone else sees too. The Net originally had multiple interfaces that people could choose from. The three most popular were Megacity (where everything was rendered to look like 1930s Film Noire), A dungeons and dragons motif, and one that looked like Tron. Eventually the UIs were all consolidated into one, and it is now the standard for everyone. The Tron-like interface is now the default for the Net.

Ihara-Grubb Transformation Algorithms

The IG Transformation Algorithms are a core part of the Net experience. They allow the Net to be rendered as an analog to the real world. They extrapolate distances to look similar to realspace. So if a computer is sitting in an office building on the 30th floor running a BBS, and another BBS is 3 blocks away on the ground floor, you will "see" the other BBS, in the Net, as being about 3 blocks distance and 30 floors lower in elevation. Movement in the Net is programmed to feel similar to movement in the real world, and therefore moving around becomes a lot more intuitive. Netrunning is far less cumbersome than the conventional Internet in the real world.

IG Transformation Algorithms govern the way the Net looks in other ways as well. They control how the environment is rendered in real time. For example, if the connection is unstable or there is interference, you may see the landscape morph into mountains that are harder to cross (and if it is bad enough, maybe impossible to cross). Areas of low resistance may be rendered as smooth grid lines. The exact details of the environment will depend on the region (more on that below), but will be similar almost anywhere.

As in the real world, the Net extends to wherever there are computers connected to it.

Data Fortresses

A Data Fortress is simply a computer system. It is a 3D representation of that computer within the Net. The specific form the fortress takes depends on the the system in which it is hosted. As with icons, more realistic environments will require more resources (i.e., memory). The default rendering for data fortresses looks like something similar to Tron. But they can be as elaborate and photo-realistically detailed as The Matrix. You could make your data fortress look like a castle, or a cruise ship or a space station. Within the data fortress, the sysop (System Operator, that is, the person in control of the Data Fort) determines what it looks like. The only limitations are the system's own resources.

Data Fortresses have data walls. These represent how hard it is to enter the system. Data wall strength will depend on the amount and quality of resources of the system. There are programs that can penetrate data walls and allow a Netrunner to move through them. All Data Fortresses have code gates (which will be rendered as actual doors, or something similar), which are the normal way of getting inside a system's data walls.

Within the Datafortress, various parts of the system will be rendered in intuitive ways. For example, files may be stored in a locked office (a section of memory in the system) in what looks like an actual filing cabinet. So your icon would open the filing cabinet and take out the file...giving you access to the information.

2020 Regions

Regions represent large ambiguous sections of the Net that share the same basic virtual. Meaning, what the default environments (often called "Virtuals") look like. The actual boundaries are not fixed though, and can shift all the time for a number of reasons. Mostly it has to do with how much control various governments or influential groups can exert in the area.

Thanks to the IG Transformation Algorithms, Netspace is analogous to real space. Almost like an alternate dimension. The Virtuals for each Region are described below:

Pacifica

Pacifica covers all of the Pacific ocean pole to pole, including all of Australia, most of the western half of the NUSA (to Denver, at which point it transitions into the Olympia region), Alaska, Southeast Asia (include Hong Kong and the rest of SE China) and the part of Russia near Alaska. It does not include any of South America, nor does it include Japan, which is its own region called Tokyo/Chiba. Pacifica will sometimes take over parts of Atlantis if the weather is bad.

The Pacifica virtual is probably the best of all the regions on the Net. Its virtual is a stylized version of a real Ocean, with glowing fish shapes and other sea life. The oceans are filled with Clever Dolphin Programs which clean up junk data and, according to rumour, report criminal activity.

The sky of Pacifica is pleasantly illuminated, without any specific light source. The sky has many hazy overlapping sections of varying hue and brightness. There are two moons in the sky...the lighter one one represents the sun in real time, and the other the regular moon. These can actually be used to keep track of time while in the region.

The LDLs in this region are represented with unique abstract art sculptures as icons, and where the LDL leads can be known simply from the sculpture representing it. The city grids hover above the water on tiles or planks. The default architecture resembles a modern stylized version of floating ruins will columns and balustrades. The surface geometry of all of the buildings is reflective and smooth.

Unlike the default elevation rendering that accompanies areas of low bandwidth in the form of mountains, the Pacifica virtual renders these areas instead as dark and ominous. An area of little or no transmission will appear to have hurricane like conditions, with a black and red sky and massive choppy waves in the water.

Control is not as uniform as other regions of the Net. The region is so large that different groups exert different levels of control over the region. The eastern part is dominated largely by the American West Coast, and the larger corporations based there. They also control Hawaii and Alaska as well. The NUSA government and France share control of the middle of the ocean on various islands. The South and Southwest portion of the region are jointly controlled by the Australian and New Zealand governments. The Western portion of the region is controlled by the Far Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and the Japanese Zaibatsus.

NetWatch has a strong presence in Pacifica, and Magnificent Curtis (their leader here) is something of a celebrity. Unlike the rest of the Net, the Pacifica branch of Netwatch is actually very even handed and fair. Magnificent Curtis is very strict about how the organization is run, and careful to make sure all laws are followed.

Major grids include the Antarctic relay station,(controlled by the EU/UN), Jakarta and Manilla, Galopogos Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, and various NUSA domains (Honolulu for example).

Olympia

The Olympia region spans almost all of the western NUSA, part of the Central NUSA, and includes the southern portions of Canada directly above them.

The Olympia virtual is themed on modern skyscrapers, with a heavy corporate feel to it. The skyscrapers have no foundations. Instead they float in mid-"air", and there is a mirror version of the Skyscraper on the bottom side. The "gravity" in the virtual is relative to whatever side you are on. So "down" is always in the direction of the building foundation. There is a sun, which is bright without being blinding, and clouds in the infinite expanse of blue sky.

Communication lines are rendered as catwalks. You cannot see the people on the "bottom" of the catwalk unless you reverse your polarity and switch "down" to "up". Rache Bartmoss once made a program that would allow him to walk on the "edge" and see both sides at once, but this is not something normal people can do without a specialized program like he had.

The infrastructure in Olympia is high quality, so the environment is typically smooth and calm. If bandwidth is affect by weather or other things, the "sidewalks" will appear to fracture, and eventually become impassable.

Olympia is known for a heavy Corporate influence. Most major cities are dominated by a single large corporation. Orbital Air controls Denver, for example. This makes it relatively easy to evade the police/security, as Corporate Net Cops will not be able to pursue you to neighboring cities. At least not normally. Kind of like those movies where the bad guys cross the county line and the cops can't go after them.

City Grid	Corporation in Control
Alburqueque, NM	Militech
Bizmarck, ND	None (City/State control)
Boise]], ID	None (Netwatch)
Calgary	Petrochem
Dallas, TX	Net54
Denver, CO	Orbital Air
El Paso, TX	Republic West Oil
Grand Prairie, MT	Montana Agribuisiness Concern
Houston, TX	Worldsat
Las Vegas, NV	DMS
New Galveston, TX	Merril, Asukaga & Finch
Phoenix, AZ	Netlink Software
Reno, NV	Arasaka
Salt Lake City, UT	Militech
San Antonio, TX	Bronleigh Development

Netwatch has a weak presence in this region, due to the fact that the corporations have little tolerance for them. Netwatch runners are treated no differently by Corporate Net Security than anyone else. Nevada Notwatch, the national net police force of Nevada, is exceptionally tolerant even of criminal activities and will only step in to prevent major damage or civilian casualties.

Rustbelt

The Rustbelt, officially the Grand Americana Region, covers the east coast of North America and incorporates the regions of Dixie, Appalachia, the Northeast, and the Midwest. In other words, it spans everywhere that the original United States government has control over.

The southern border of the Rustbelt routinely expands without warning as the US government attempts to pull in the Puerto Rico subnets, a goal protested by Puerto Rican Netrunners.

The appearance of the Rustbelt is of brutalist modern art made of yellows and browns, without any attempt to replicate anything natural-looking. This is supposed to represent the power and industrial might of the United States, but it looks more like somewhere that has just been bombed.

Everything in the Rustbelt looks air-brushed and indistinguishable from everything else. The unintelligent subprocesses in this region take the form of labourers that carry out their given task without a hint of simulated emotion.

The Rustbelt is a virtual dictatorship controlled by the US government, Netwatch, and the European corporations. The US government reluctantly allows the EuroCorps to stay due to their connections to Netwatch.

Major grids include Bermuda, several parts of Canada, Godthäb, Louisville, Miami, New Orleans, Washington D.C., and Plantation.

Tokyo/Chiba

Japan has such a concentrated high tech population, that it has its own region separate from Pacifica. Due to its density, the virtual in this region cuts normal view distance in half or even by 75% due to bandwidth limitations. The virtual is full of stylized Bamboo which casts "shadows" that are light, and get more intricate and brighter the closer you look at them.

In theory, the Far Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere controls this region, but in actuality Arasaka has the most control over the region and the Zaibutsus generally do whatever they want. The FACS Netrunners are openly hostile to foreign Netrunners, but a lot of Netrunners come here anyway simply because Japanese culture is popular.

All of the corporations that dominate this area are Japanese, except for Disney. Major corporations include Arasaka, FACS, Disney, Kenjiri Technologies, Kiroshi (Kiroshi Cybernetics Inc). The FACS has made a lot of enemies on the mainland due to their expansionist agenda on the Net, so terrorists are common in this region as well.

Major grids include Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, And several large BBSs that are analogous to cities.

Atlantis

Atlantis is controlled mostly by the Organization of American States and the Corporations allied with it. It is popular for its black market trade. Atlantis covers the area of realspace associated with the South Atlantic ocean, including Central and South America, the entire south Atlantic down almost to the south pole, and the African coast.

Its borders are in constant flux and can change by 1000 miles in a single day due to the unreliability of its switching stations. Its volatility can sometimes affect Netrunner programs. Its virtual is described as "old fashioned". Some islands have constructed custom virtuals to attract tourists, such as the Caribbean islands.

Robotic looking icons are chic with Atlantis Netrunners. There is little oversight or policing done here. The governments and Corporations that control this area are not very well coordinated, which can make this region very chaotic.

The main Corporations that dominate here are Arasaka, Orbital Air, R.E.O. Meatwagon, SovOil, and WorldSat Communications Network.

Major grids include Havana, Panama City, Quito, and Rio de Janeiro.

Eurotheater

This region encompasses all of Europe, from the Atlantic to the edge of the Soviet Union and from the north tip of Africa to the Arctic.

The Eurotheater virtual is an idealized version of their real life cultures. Lots of globes, high art, Roman columns, and outer space motifs, projecting an air of opulence. They like straight lines and organization. Their dataforts are carefully sculpted to look like works of art.

The infrastructure is generally advanced and well maintained, so you will never see "mountains" (areas of low bandwidth) except in Britain, The northern part of central Europe, or North Africa. You can often see three times farther in this region than in other regions because of this.

Net security is very rigid and authoritarian, though not oppressive. The Eurotheater is the major economic power in the world, eclipsing even the Japanese, and there is a lot of (legitimate) economic activity in their region of the Net.

Major Corporations include Biotechnica and EBM. Netwatch has a very strong presence here, to the point where it almost has official sanction from the Corporations. They have very few restrictions, and can cross borders and enforce laws at will, as if they were legitimate police. Expect Netwatch to act as judge and jury if you encounter them here. Unlike other areas of the Net, Netwatch has its own Dataforts here.

Major grids include Berlin, Tunis, Lisbon, Jerusalem, and Athens.

Sovspace

This region encompasses the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations such as Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic. Its likely that these regions where allowed to be swallowed by Sovspace since they're not members of the European Economic Community.

Due to the outdated hardware in this region, the Sovspace virtual feels cramped and claustrophobic. The streets curve over the horizon very closely to reduce rendering distance because of the limited bandwidth. Its constructs appear old fashioned cobblestone streets, gas lamps, carriages, and lots of old-timey cottages from the 1800s.

The general feel is very Victorian and Czarist, with an oppressive and malevolent atmosphere. Nothing is straight or clear. The line of sight is so limited that inexperienced runners could unintentionally travel off a city grid and into the next country or into wilderspace.

The bulk of the Net population is clustered at the Western edge of this region. Netrunners here are reckless and defenses are weak compared to other regions of the Net. But the few defenses encountered are likely to be very lethal.

Netwatch is generally unwelcome here, being seen as as form of European influence. Anyone affiliated with Netwatch is forbidden by the Soviet government from entering this region. Netwatch has lodged formal protests against this policy, arguing that the Net is supposed to be open to everyone. But the Soviets and their allied corporations hold the power here.

The region is policed mostly by the government (the KGB for example) or large corporations like SovOil, Rostovic, and Kalishnikov.

Major grids include Moscow, Kiev, and Teheran.

Afrikani

The region of Afrikani consists of most of Africa and parts of the former Middle East. The northern coast of the continent has been taken by the Eurotheatre and much of the west coast belongs to Atlantis.

Afrikani is the most primitive out of all the regions of the Net due to its use of primarily outdated hardware. At any time, a large amount of its city grids may be completely dead.

When it is traversable, the appearance of Afrikani invokes tribal African imagery with a lot of mask and animal patterns. Some believe that the tribal aesthetic was purposefully implemented by Europeans to portray the entire continent as still primitive.

A digital mist pervades much of Afrikani, the result of pixel scatter caused by inefficient processing. This makes it hard to travel fast through Afrikani due to the image processing system needing extra time to catch up to runners.

Power over Afrikani is held by the European Economic Community and its puppet, the Pan-African Alliance. They are opposed by the Free Africa Foundation, a major terrorist organisation. Orbital Air is the largest corporation in the region and controls the regions most skilled Netrunners.

Major grids include the Algiers, Madagascar, the Canary Islands, Nairobi, and Casablanca.

Orbitsville

Orbitsville incorporates the various satellites and space stations that orbit Earth. It can be vaguely divided into five distinct levels.

The first level is Low-Earth Orbit, where most satellites are located. The second is Geosynchronous Orbit, where most inhabited platforms and workshacks are. The third is L-1 Point, the location of the Crystal Palace. The fourth is Lunar Orbit, where systems operating on the Moon can be accessed. The fifth is L-2 Point, the farthest a Netrunner can travel.

Most of Orbitsville is controlled by the major space agencies: the European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Bureau, NASA, Orbital Air, the Soviet Rocket Corps, and the United States Aerospace Force.

Major orbital grids include Copernicus, the Crystal Palace, the O'Neill Colonies, and Tycho.

Wilderspace

Wilderspace is a blanket term describing anywhere that doesn't fall into the nine regions of the Net. For all intents and purposes, Wilderspace doesn't exist, as there is nothing to travel through or go to in any real way.^{[citation needed]}

2077 Regions

• Many controlled by NetWatch
• Reza Agwe controlled by the Voodoo Boys
• Numerous isolated pockets across the Net
• Mikoshi
• Beyond the Blackwall

Artificial Intelligences

Main article: Artificial Intelligence

AIs (Artificial Intelligences) do exist in the Cyberpunk world, and the Net is their natural environment. There are many types of AIs. Some are deliberately created by corporations or governments, some by accident, and some are emergent properties of the Net itself. There is a great deal of debate as to whether AIs are actually sapient, or merely give the appearance of sapience. However, at least in outward appearance, AIs can be completely indistinguishable from real people.

Net personalities

2020s

• Rache Bartmoss - Arguably the world's best and most famous netrunner.
• Spider Murphy - A famous netrunner, and ally of Rache Bartmoss.
• Regional AIs - Reports of these Transcendental Sentience Regional AIs are so sporadic that a lot of people do not even believe they exist. They are treated like reports of aliens or Bigfoot. Spider Murphy is convinced that these are either a delusion of Rache Bartmoss, or that he made them up as a joke. These personality summaries are based on encounters Rache Bartmoss claims to have had with them:
  • Europa - This is the AI of the Eurotheater. Highly intelligent due to the fact that it has the best hardware infrastructure on the Net. It is very intellectual with a focus on logic and organization. It enjoys puzzles, but not the same puzzles we do. Chess is ridiculously simple by its standards. Rache claims that it has not communicated for almost 2 years, and suspects it is involved in some major project, like trying to escape the Net (which is theoretically impossible for a TS AI) or communicating with aliens or performing some ridiculously complex calculation.
  • Akira - This is the AI for the Tokyo/Chiba region. Described by Rache as "nice", and very unlike the people in the region it makes up. He characterizes it as being like a Hermit constantly tidying up its shack. Like other TS AIs, it has no concept of other regions of the Net. It is much more interactive than other TS AIs on the Net, and will even directly interfere with Netrunners and Sysops in its region (though there is no pattern to the interference...at least none that humans can comprehend).
  • Rusty - This is the Rustbelt AI. A very abstract AI, until Rache named it, it never occurred to it that it needed a name. It has no real feelings or agendas. Mostly it just accumulates information. Not to do anything with it (yet), just to accumulate it. It will sometimes follow Netrunners around just to see what they are like, and even tamper with their "world" for a while to see how they react to the stimulus. Rusty has supposedly constructed an actual avatar of itself patterned after Rache's, so that it can interact with Netrunners directly. Spider Murphy believe this is a deliberate deception by him (a joke) and that this avatar is likely a conventional AI or another Netrunner.
  • 0-1 - This is the AI for the Olympia region. It is extremely paranoid, due to encroachment of the Rustbelt on its region (which is similar to being eaten alive). Its focus is more on objects (Programs and conventional AIs) than people (Netrunners) as it considers these the "real" threat to itself. If it determines the object is a threat to it, it will destroy it. It is said to interact with Netrunners though, and it is possible to befriend it.
  • Packer - This is the Pacifica AI. It is intelligent and fascinated by the illogical. It spends its time thinking about the nature of reality. Rache claims to have gotten actual VR code from it before. Getting its attention is difficult because most people think and act in logical ways.
  • The Duchess - This is the AI occupying the SovSpace region. It is not complex because of all of the substandard hardware in SovSpace. Rache describes it as gullible and childlike. It is easily distracted. Its actions are often ignored as they are indistinguishable from the normal hardware failures that plague this region.
  • Zero - This is the AI for the Afrikani region. Plagued by even worse infrastructure than The Duchess, it is intelligent and sapient but highly delusional and erratic. Its personality is unknown at this time, but with hardware and infrastructure upgrades from the Pan African Confederation, it will eventually become more stable and an actual personality will materialize.
  • Orbitsville - Rache claims there is no AI for this region. And that it is likely run by aliens (no, he's not kidding).

2077

• 8ug8ear - One the best netrunners in Japantown.
• Alt Cunningham - Used to be one of the best netrunners in Night City, turned to a Rogue AI on the Net. Hiding beyond the Blackwall.
• Brigitte - Leader of the Voodoo Boys and one of the best netrunners in Pacifica.
• Bryce Mosley - Employee of Netwatch, worked to stop the Voodoo Boys from breaching the Blackwall.
• Chang-Hoon Nam - A regular associate of Wakako Okada, and netrunner in Japantown.
• Hanako Arasaka - Daughter of Saburo Arasaka, and heart of Arasaka.
• Johnny Silverhand - An engram copy of Johnny Silverhand, originally imprisoned within Mikoshi.
• Nix - Netrunner of Watson, worked under Rogue.
• Placide - Member of the Voodoo Boys, and netrunner in Pacifica.
• Saburo Arasaka - An engram copy of Saburo Arasaka, housed within Mikoshi.
• T-Bug - One of Night City's best netrunners.
• Ti Neptune - Member of the Voodoo Boys, and netrunner in Pacifica.

Behind the Scenes

Mike Pondsmith commented on Reddit about the Net:

A short explanation. The Cyberpunk universe "Net" diverged frm^[sic✍️] ours about 1990, and the development of that Net didn't go through the hypertext based environment that we used as the baseline for our current "internet." Instead, the early "AOL style", text-based environment jumped straight into the shared space environment of the 2013 net. Instead of linking to a dispersed bunch of independent sites that you travel to as URL addresses, the Net of 2020 is basically like a giant AOL or Compuserve, with REALLY GREAT GRAPHICS. Netrunners are basically going to one or two enormous walled gardens that are defined as Net Zones (like Atlantis or Pacifica, for example). In 2013, the links to these huge zones was moderated by the use of "interfaces"--essentially preloaded data packs that acted much like the downloading patches of large MMOs during the 1980s. By the 2020, the Ihara/Grubb equations created a shared universe that served anyone logging into a Zone and didn't require a preloaded interface program because of the now superior bandwidth speeds.

As a result, emoticons were pretty much bypassed as useless--they only exist in our world in fact to transmit short concepts (LOL= Laugh Out Loud) in the same way as L33TSP3@K did years ago. Since you were seeing and hearing people in realtime (like the idea of Zuck's META), you just laughed out loud instead of texting LOL.

I'm going to have to do a deeper cut of all this one day, but suffice it to say that I worked this all out a bunch of years back when I still worked at Microsoft. Its a big ass theoretical paper with diagrams and everything.